Cherry Chocolate Brownies
Apologies for the delays between posts. Until last month, I managed a long-term case of patellar bursitis with regular cortisone injections. My doctor warned these shots would eventually become refactory.
Eventually has arrived. It means delays between posts.
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Let’s talk about cherries.
They are in season, and of course, I bought too many.
After canning several pounds, I stared at all that jam and wondered how to use it up.
Mad inspiration has split in search of healthier bloggers. Back here at Chez Decrepit, I’d planned to bake John brownies, and wondered whether I could unload some cherry jam into the batter. Recalling this recipe, I made a few changes, and lo, cherry chocolate brownies.
Brownies defy good photography.
A word about the cherry jam: don’t think jam in the sense of pectin, set points, or freezer tests. Think pitted cherries, sugar, oven, and time. Then you can can them (I just really wanted to say that) and by this, I mean water bath can the cherry jam,(instructions below), or simply ladle it into sterilized jars and refrigerate it.
Either way, this jam is easy to make, and even easier to stir into brownie batter, making the brownie eaters in your life happy people.
I posted the recipe for Cherry Jam in the IK’s early days, and frankly, that’s how it reads. The rewritten recipe appears below, streamlined and hopefully easier to follow.
Cherry Chocolate Brownies
Inspired by a recipe from the late, great, much-missed Gourmet Magazine
yield: One 9×13 inch pan/33×23 cm pan brownies
preparation time: 2 hours to bake the cherry jam; about thirty minutes to bake brownies
This cherry jam recipe comes from Eugenia Bone, who got it from Jacques Pepin. The fruit is pitted and baked in a low oven with sugar. The jam is a soft-set style without pectin. You can either pour the jam into sterilized jars and refrigerate it for a few weeks, or can it in a water bath (instructions follow), which gives a shelf-stable product.
For a thorough explanation of water bath canning, including helpful equipment, read this.
The fruit throws off a lot of liquid as it bakes. Save this treasure to drink by itself, with soda, booze, or poured over ice cream. Or make cherry bounce.
This recipe also works with strawberries and apricots.
Baked Cherry Jam
Yield: 3 half pints/250g jars
1 pound/450g sweet cherries, pitted
1 cup/250g sugar
preheat the oven to 200 degrees F/very low oven; approximately 121C
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the pitted cherries on the baking sheet. Pour the sugar evenly over the fruit. Place the tray in the oven.
Bake up to two hours, stirring occasionally with a spatula to help the sugar melt evenly, until the fruit is cooked and the sugar has dissolved. This may take a little longer for European oven users, whose ovens may be cooler.
While the cherries bake, sterilize 3 half-pint/250g jars and lids. Have a water bath canner ready.
When you are ready to can, carefully tip the contents of the baking sheet into a large bowl. It is easier to spoon jam into jars from a bowl than directly from the baking sheet.
Spoon the cherries into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headroom. Do not overfill jars or seals will be compromised. Clean any drips or spills with a clean cloth or paper towel dipped in white vinegar. Screw on lids fingertip tight and lower into canner. Once all jars are filled, ensure canner water level covers jars, put canner lid on, bring water to a rolling boil, and process for 15 minutes, taking your altitude into account if necessary.
If you are not water bath canning, spoon cherries into sterilized jars and screw on sterilized lids. Allow jars to cool before refrigerating. Use within 6 weeks.
Cherry Chocolate Brownies:
yield: 1 9×13/33×23 cm pan brownies
6 ounces/115 g unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks/6 ounces/115g sweet butter, sliced into 6-8 pieces (this helps melting)
1 half pint/250g baked cherry jam, drained (recipe above; or substitute 8 ounces best-quality cherry jam)
4 large eggs, ideally at room temperature
1 3/4 cups/340g sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 scant cup flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
Line a 13×9/33×23 cm inch baking pan with foil. Butter the foil.
Melt the butter, chocolate, and cherry jam in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often. When the butter and chocolate have melted and combined, remove pan from heat.
Whisk eggs in a large bowl until foamy. Switching to a wooden or large metal spoon, add sugar, salt, and almond extract to the eggs. Stir until blended.
Carefully pour in a small amount of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, stirring to blend, then add the rest, stirring to incorporate. The idea is to avoid cooking the eggs. Add the flour to the bowl, stirring until just blended. Add morsels, if using.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and slide into preheated oven. Bake for thirty minutes or until a tester comes out clean (don’t hit a chocolate morsel!). Brownies will look and smell done: sides will pull away from pan slighty and top will be thin and shiny.
Cherry chocolate brownies keep well at room temperature up to five days. They also freeze beautifully provided they are well-wrapped.
Notes:
You can use 2 full cups/454g of sugar, but there is sugar in the jam and the chocolate morsels, and we think they’re sweet enough.
Vanilla extract may be used instead of almond.
Save the liquid from the jar of jam to make cherry bounce.
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